Ringing produced by a telephone company usually has the 20 Hz ringing signal riding on a direct current (DC) level of approximately 48V. Low-cost subscriber line interface circuits (SLICs) used in voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and other products cannot provide this ringing signal because such a ringing signal requires too much voltage. To provide a high voltage amplitude requires a much more expensive solution.
One expensive solution is to use a SLIC capable of handling a much higher battery voltage, and increasing the battery voltage. This adds cost to the SLIC, power supply, and increases power dissipation. Another solution is to use separate ICs for the SLIC and ringing functions, and switch the SLICs with relays. This also adds significant cost.
Certain phones and answering machines depend on the DC offset as well as the ring signal amplitude to respond. These phones do not ring properly when driven by the ring signal generated by these inexpensive SLIC integrated circuits (ICs). The ring signal in these devices is typically a 140 VP-P trapezoidal or sinusoidal waveform with a 0 VDC offset.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method, which permits a DC offset to be added for a very small incremental cost, and permits low-cost SLICs to drive telephone products.